If You Should Go
by ShadowRogue75
Summary: Sakura is on her way to her mission rendezvous point. Unfortunately a certain missing ninja will make her late. Inspired by nami86's brilliant fan art. Heads up: This was written as of anime ep.147 so there will be spoilers for anime-only watchers.
1. More than I hoped for

Weather as charged and tumultuous as the circumstances; rain that couldn't make up its mind – Pein must already have his hands full. So it was no surprise to her when the Village Hidden in the Rain began to live up to its name again.

Sakura cut across the rooftops toward her rendezvous point. She had lost her cloak battling Karin earlier and this improvised route gave her a better chance of remaining undetected. Defeating Karin had cost time – she was supposed to be in position already. The industrial, labyrinthine field of towers, pipes, and scaffolding made a challenge of moving through the electrified glow of night.

A flicker of white caught her eye. What --

Sasuke. His white shirt whipped in the wind as he stepped out on an open tower balcony. Aware of her transient presence, he coolly observed her. He, too, glowed against the bleak village; it made her heart pause. . .

She wasn't seeing the pipe she was about to bash into. "Sakura!" he called out before he realized what he was doing.

Her well-placed hand; a redirection; a landing on a neighbouring tower across from the balcony.

Hn! Sasuke eyed her more closely. Her reaction had been lithe and quick. Did his warning make her avoid the pipe or did she already know it was there? Sakura was certainly still talented in chakra control – she had deftly landed on a sheer vertical.

She looked at him, inscrutably, but didn't meet his gaze for long. Of all times, why now? Sakura thought. There was nothing for it. She grit her teeth in sharp frustration and sprung forward.

He wasn't about to underestimate her and readied his sharingan only to see that she was going to bypass over him. Sasuke frowned: he wasn't done with her yet. Her vault over the scaffolding anticipated, Sasuke cast wire to catch her wrists at the critical moment. His sharp pull grounded her on the balcony with a rough thump.

He waited until she met his eyes to enquire as to what she was doing in Amegakure.

Sakura rose awkwardly without the use of her hands, leaning against the balcony's door frame to help herself up: "I don't have time for this." Despite the pride with which she faced him, the answer sounded weak, even to her. If it irked Sasuke, his expression didn't change. But neither did he release the wire trap. She considered her situation: this detour didn't negate her need to be at the mission rendezvous point ages ago. Perhaps blunt honesty would get her out of there faster.

"I have to neutralize any Akatsuki I see" she said pointedly.

Skeptical, Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he closed the gap between them, resting an incisive hand on the wall beside her head.

"Try me," Sakura said defiantly with a burning look, her response heated by his closeness.

Neither is she lacking in confidence, Sasuke thought.

He pressed on: "Then why didn't you attack me on sight?"

"I'm Tsunade's student; I have her ear," Sakura began. "She agreed to convince the other kages to classify you a missing nin rather than an Akatsuki." She added: "That's also why you've had so much freedom of movement over the years."

He was taken aback and took a minute to absorb the information. Now that she mentioned it . . . but "Why did you go so far for me?"

If her eyes softened before replying, it wasn't because her response lacked determination. "Years ago I said I'd help you with your revenge. With Itachi dead I don't know what you're after but—" She looked at him fully, heart pounding. "I still believe in you . . ."

They looked at each other for a long moment.

"Still?"

"Always."

He turned his head aside, obscuring his eyes.

A third voice sliced the moment: "Busy, Sasuke?" Madara was perched on the balcony.

Unsettled, Sasuke stepped back from Sakura and faced the interloper while still firmly holding the wire: "Yes."

"Well, change your plans. Pein's under attack."

"That's no concern of mine; I owe him no loyalty," Sasuke said dismissively. "You're mistaken to think I would stay past Akatsuki's usefulness for my purposes."

"Oh ho!" Madara crowed. "I know where to find the Konoha Elder that you can't locate" Madara closed his sharingan eye and pushed his mask up.

"Danzou!" Sasuke spat and readied himself.

Sakura leapt off the balcony.

Her hands were still caught in the wire which was unreeling fast from Sasuke's hand. Instinct had him snatch at the remaining wire to wrench her back in. Success! Sakura thought. Turned around and hurtling back toward the tower, she whipped the wire ahead to loop it around Madara's neck. Slam landing into a brace against the balcony's edge she forced her end taut.

"Sasuke! Now's your chance!"

Mindful of his part in maintaining Madara's noose, Sasuke's raikiri sprung up to surround him and sizzled as he plunged a quick fist into Madara's chest. Retracting his hand, a swift slice from his katana cut Sakura free. She nimbly evaded the stumbling Madara and drew three small kunai, ready to pierce his vital points but there was no need. Sasuke solidly kicked the damaged chest and Madara crumpled and fell from the slick wet balcony, between the towers, and down the many stories. The night and rain obscured his spattered end.

Sasuke turned to Sakura, genuinely impressed – "How did you stop him from teleporting?"

She grinned at having piqued his interest: "I hyper-condensed my chakra and ran it through the wire – it weighs down on his chakra until his was almost frozen. He couldn't–"

Madara blinked into existence behind Sakura. Unceremoniously her ran her through, glaring at Sasuke as he grimly pronounced: "I'm not called immortal for nothing". He tossed Sakura aside and pointed with the bloody kunai: "Back up Pein or there will be one fewer Uchiha".

Sasuke's shuriken hit only the swirl of air left from Madara's teleport away.

To the matter at hand.

Two strides and Sasuke was crouching over a motionless Sakura. Leaning close he could still hear shallow breathing. But his hand found her wound which confirmed the terrible, inevitable result. He let out a long, ragged sigh. He brushed Sakura's hair from her face and found his hand lingering.

As if it would make a difference, he spoke: "You know, I always admired your heart." It was like his. Tenacious. But better than his somehow. The kind of heart that could carry a past and a future. The kind of heart that included him. It was too late now – "I guess not all dreams can come true" Sasuke said unhappily. His voice guttered into a whisper: "If you're gone, I'll be alone as you've been."

Lightning brought his attention crashing back to everything else. Gently removing himself from her, Sasuke stood and moved toward the balcony. He couldn't leave her here – Zetzu said earlier that he was coming back. Where to take her?

He gripped the arch and stared at the rain. The cold and smooth of the stone under his hand irritated him; too much like her skin. He withdrew his hand from the offending stone. Not for long. He rammed his fist into it. Again. And again. Fresh thunder masked his infuriated, anguished yell. Fuck, fuck, fuck! It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was. . . It was. . .He couldn't put together how it should have been. He wearily stepped into the rain and looked up, hoping for some clarity. His hand ached. His heart ached: "Sakura. . ."

"Thank you."

He whipped around. She was bloody but no longer bleeding. A blue-purple seal that decorated her face and the length of her arms was receding back under her shirt. She gave him a lopsided smile. He just stared.

"I really want to kiss you right now," Sasuke managed.

Sakura's hopes violently rose but she didn't want to tempt fate: "So what are you going to do about that?"

His hair brushes her face; they kiss. As if it were to be the last time.

They part, flushed at renewed precious possibilities.

"I still have to go – I'm part of the support team attacking Pein."

"Could you use a hand?" Sasuke asked rhetorically. He said it so matter-of-factly, it made Sakura pause, flattered. But it was with a fierceness that he continued: "From now on, I'll watch your back."

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading! This chapter was based around nami86's "sketch: too late" and partly on her "what are you doing here?" on deviantArt**


	2. Being useful

Sakura led them by instinct through the blustery night, springing across rooftops with more speed than caution. Sasuke kept pace. Despite how the rain had eased and how the cloak he insisted she wear (with only one cloak between them, he gave her his) kept the persistent wind at bay, Sakura still shivered from the cloak's strangeness.

"Hold up a minute—" he said.

Sakura pulled up short, crouching beside him on the wet edge of a scaffolding tower: "What?" she whispered. He didn't answer but was clearly looking for something in the distance. She scanned the industrial patchwork of the Village Hidden in the Rain; nothing stood out. They weren't too far from where her mission rendezvous point was supposed to be; where she was supposed to have been ages ago. Sakura scowled, violently shoving the corrosive thoughts away; she refused to feel guilty for her detours. A glance at his paused beauty cleansed her mind and she gazed out again. His company was enough. To have him by her she _would_ gamble her mission's success -- dream and destruction, here by her side.

A squall swept around them, sticking more of her hair across her face -- no longer a tolerable situation if they had a moment. Untying her headband, Sakura carefully balanced it beside her on the scaffolding, running her fingers through her hair to make it passably less dishevelled. One hand holding a swath of hair back, in reaching to retrieve the headband her hand misjudged its location and she cursed as it skittered across the scaffolding, sliding off the edge. Alerted, Sasuke snagged it briefly yet not securely since it slipped from his grasp too. Even the red was lost in the mist as it fell stories down out of reach.

Sasuke gave a little mock sigh: "We'll both need new ones now". Sasuke swiftly bit his tongue for his rash remark. They looked at each other; each weighing the significance of his words. Sasuke broke the moment by straightening up but Sakura remained reached over the scaffolding edge, gravity pulling the hood of the Akatsuki cloak over her head and focusing her vision on where it had disappeared. Damn, she thought. I'd had that since I became a chuunin.

Sasuke heard a soft zu-zu-zu. At least some of his senses were still keen, he thought, turning in time to see Zetsu half-emerging from the building against which the scaffolding was attached. So that's what felt off about this place. He waited pointedly for Zetsu to do whatever he had come to do. Unperturbed, Zetsu met Sasuke's gaze: "Madara sent me to lead you to your position." He glanced at back of the crouched kunoichi. "Is she coming too?"

Sakura froze; her thoughts raced: He must think I'm Karin. If I transform just my face then the transformation cloud won't be that large; the hood and mist will hide it...Before Sasuke had a chance to respond, "Karin" rose to face Zetsu. "Yes," she stated firmly and crossed her arms. Quick on the uptake, Sasuke nodded in confirmation.

Zetsu reached out his white hand, "It'll be simplest if we're touching". Sasuke pulled Sakura to his side with perhaps more force than he intended and grabbed Zetsu's wrist. It was a calculated risk – had Madara let Zetsu know about their encounter earlier? If he had, it likely would have been Zetsu's black hand reaching out.

In a shift, they arrived in a long, desolate corridor within a building. Sasuke abruptly removed his hand from Zetsu; however, Sasuke was subtly reluctant to let go of Sakura – his hand slipping down the cloak sleeve and almost touching the back of her hand. Zetsu wasted no time presenting orders: "This is a critical artery of this building. Keeping it secure is how you'll protect Pein". And with the strange, shifting zu-zu-zu sound, he left them alone there.

Sakura let out an audible sigh of relief and undid the transformation; Zetsu must be weak in genjutsu to not have uncovered her masquerade. Sasuke relaxed too; evidently Madara thought he had made his point back at the tower so they probably wouldn't have to concern themselves with him popping in anytime soon.

Both ninja assessed the new surroundings which were not unlike a metal version of one of Orochimaru's hideouts; the kind of place where there was perpetual twilight. The hallway snaked away both to their left and right, each direction crisscrossed with other passages. With no immediate dangers, Sakura asked aloud what Sasuke had been thinking: "How did Zetsu know where you were?"

Sasuke frowned; it was disconcerting. Zetsu did have that mayfly jutsu which allowed him to spy unnoticed but that didn't explain how he happened to be where they stopped. If he didn't have an answer in hand, maybe one could be found in these ominous passageways: "I'll think on it," Sasuke admitted shortly. "In the meantime, let's find out what's so precious that it must be protected." He said it in such a way that Sakura began to smile but it was lost on Sasuke as he had already turned to stalk down the hallway.

They took the first right available because another short hallway led to a heavy locked door. Both understood that it would be too risky to blow open the door; picking the lock could open a Pandora's box; and knocking was, of course, out of the question.

"Here," Sakura pointed up at a ventilation shaft grate. "Help me get up there and I'll scout out what's behind the door." He cupped his hands in front of him for Sakura, having to wait a moment while she shrugged out of the Akatsuki cloak and stuffed it in her mednin pouch. Thus unencumbered her grace reasserted itself as she balanced on his hands with ease, immediately beginning work unscrewing the grate. Sasuke looked up to see how she was doing, but, blushing, thought better of it and concentrated squarely on Sakura's knee.

Sakura had worked diligently the last few years to become deft with all manner of tools so it was with dextrous hands and surprising swiftness that she pried open the grate, sliding it quietly inside the shaft. Not even needing a hoist up, she lithely drew herself into the shaft and looked down at him with a just-watch-me grin.

Was Sasuke surprised a little? His eyes flickered with fascination. Some sort of breeze was still pulling at his shirt; perhaps it was the draft from the now open ventilation. Even from this angle she couldn't see his curse mark; she wondered how it had helped or hindered him since they last spoke of it years ago. She had to ask.

He merely looked at her for a minute. "It exhausted itself when I killed Itachi," he said flatly, carefully. "A greater power has replaced it". He paused, gauging her reaction. She looked serious but didn't immediately start fretting over this development. He liked that. She held his gaze for another moment and then, rallying her smile, said that she'd be back and slunk out of sight.

Sasuke stayed for a moment looking up at the cavity which had swallowed Sakura before allowing himself to lean up against one of the walls. Even not standing directly under the grate he definitely felt a draught now, and not from the ventilation. It was getting stronger by the minute. He hadn't felt a breeze in any of the corridors – why should one be blowing now? Pieces of something began flapping into the adjoining hall.

Meanwhile, Sakura had reached to grate overlooking the room in question. Despite the dim, flickering fluorescent light it appeared as if the room was empty. She quietly slid the grate open and soundlessly dropped down. Caution made her press into the shadows as she confirmed the vacancy of the room. If luck is a part of skill, she had it in spades tonight – a medical storage room. She had used more neutralizing serums on the Villagers than expected – even the non-ninjas were restive and suspicious – and could certainly use some restocking. She trailed her fingers along the steel shelving cramped with preserved supplies…sea celery to make the tongue swell…rhubarb leaves for cardiac arrest…the _bufo marinus _toad which held poison behind its eyes good for dipping edged weapons…she knew all of these and her stocks were soon replenished.

The farther she went into the room, the stranger the collection became – insects she didn't think had poisonous or healing value; jars full of fowl parts seemingly added to yet never subtracted from; and farther yet, human body parts suspended in formaldehyde. Her experienced eye noted that each of the parts was in good condition. As part of her training with Tsunade she had regularly performed transplants (she was continually surprised at the different ways in which an experienced ninja could get something lopped off), building on countless hours assisting Shizune in the autopsy room. Speaking of which…she continued to the very back of the room -- there _was_ a freezer. Making sure that the door wouldn't shut behind her, Sakura investigated. Pallet after pallet of dead ninjas. And a deep drawer in the wall. Pulling it open she saw a matrix of jars. Picking jars at random revealed that each contained eyes. Fascinating to see how each set still retained their individuality. Just a few more and then she'd make her way back to Sasuke. She picked a jar from the back row and froze but not because of the cold. It held Rinnengan eyes. Spurred by the discovery, she began to check each of the jars in the back row. Rinnengan… rinnengan… rinnengan. Was this how the Pein bodies each had rinnengan? Could normal eyes be turned? rinnengan..rinnengan…mangekyo sharingan? Why was that here?

Sakura knew that only a handful of people in history had developed mangekyo sharingan. Kakashi…Itachi…(Had Sasuke developed it? He must have to have defeated Itachi…)…Madara. Even Madara's name infuriated her. Beyond how he had practically killed her, she hated how he reached Sasuke and Itachi first after their final battle. They had all been so close. Wait. Were these Itachi's eyes? She checked a few more of the jars in the back row. More sharingan but regular ones.

Sakura improvised a wrap around five of the jars – two rinnengan, two sharingan and the mangekyo sharingan. They wouldn't keep in perfect condition for more than a few hours but this information was too valuable to leave behind. Time to find out what Sasuke thinks of this.

Silently she reversed her path; perhaps if she was quiet enough she could watch Sasuke unobserved for a moment. Sakura grinned mischievously; after watching her fill it would be twice the pleasure to slip down and surprise him with her stealth. She slunk through the shaft. The opening lay just metres ahead but the light rising from it was flickering. Hrm. It hadn't been like that before. Sakura edged closer to peek down to the hallway. A hurricane of papers, thicker by the second, was enveloping Sasuke. Sakura tried to keep looking at where he was standing but his movement became lost in the vortex. Maybe she could pull him out. She plunged her hand down only to grasp at papers as they nicked her and stuck to her arm as they whizzed by..and burst into flames! She snatched her arm back in and pitched her body away from the opening as fire shot up too. Sakura's chest felt tight – they were explosive notes?! They looked blank!

The blast ceased, leaving the metal surrounding the opening too hot to touch. With a quick calculation she dove through, somersaulting along the floor to spring up kunai at the ready – no one down the hallway. Behind her? Sasuke, bloodied yet standing. Overcome with relief, Sakura threw herself against his chest, clutching his shirt fiercely.

Ashes fell slowly around them. Sasuke, dazed and catching his breath, was grateful for the hard dose of alive and kicking Sakura brought, even if he didn't put his arms around her. He glanced down; ashes in her hair reminded him what it felt like to have kept a bond. Luck had kept it for him -- he had never tried surrounding himself with fire before as he had with lightning; in the heat of the moment he neglected to consider that it might not be just plain paper. Sasuke set his jaw -- he wouldn't be that sloppy again.

Sakura could feel his muscles tense; she stirred from her embrace to look up at him. Sasuke was all grim intensity. Passion overwhelmed caution: She would risk an apocalypse if it meant he would be the last thing she saw.

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**A/N: ****Thanks for reading! This chapter is based around "SasuSaku-Nami+ilaB" (a nami86 drawing coloured) on deviantArt.**


	3. Smoulder

A smouldering square of paper burnt its way down to Sakura's fingers as she brushed the ashes from her hair. Hm…chakra-sensitive paper. It was difficult to get outside the Land of Fire to begin with; to have it in these disposable quantities must mean that the jutsu user had a source inside their borders.

She discarded the remains moments before it burnt her and remained mesmerized for a moment by its slow self-consumption as she contemplated this hint at insurgency in their own country.

"Let's go." Sasuke said, turning on his heel to stride back to the main hallway. It wasn't an invitation and Sakura, perceptive as ever, immediately rose to follow close behind him. He stopped abruptly as they emerged and she almost ran face-first into his shoulder. Recovering quickly, she stood purposefully almost touching him; he could feel her breast rise and fall against his back. He shifted his weight slightly back, slightly closer to her, just enough so that she would know that he liked what she was up to. Back to business. Sasuke looked back over his shoulder at her out of the corner of his eye: "The paper came from our left but seemed to be initially heading to our right. Suggestions?"

Sakura was flattered he asked: "I want to follow where the paper was heading – I don't think chakra-infused paper would be directed somewhere without purpose." Sasuke nodded and gentlemanly motioned for her to take the lead down the nondescript main hallway. She began walking, sticking her hand in her back pouch and emerging with a handfull of small, subtle objects which she casually pressed to the wall periodically as she passed by. Sasuke glanced at one and quietly smiled to himself at the ingenuity: petal-shaped 'breadcrumbs'. Sakura navigated them through more hallways; more artery passageways; more locked doors. They kept to what seemed to be the main hallway, foregoing exploring behind doors for now as it seemed unlikely that a hurricane of paper could have turned a doorknob. The further they ventured, the more the impersonal metal hallways fractalled into narrow alcoves and obtusely angled squat passageways. A sense of disuse began to permeate the air and Sakura reluctantly had to acknowledge that instead of reaching the root of this mystery building, she had chosen a path which led them to the fringe branches. She turned to admit as much but Sasuke wasn't behind her anymore.

She froze, agape. Her old sense of him, how she could sense his being near her without her even needing to look, was evidently rusty from years apart. Unease crept up. Sasuke, who had been at the ready behind her, who promised he'd watch her back, had vanished. Everything suddenly felt like a trap and the labrynthine passageways stretched before and around her in a panopticon of unknown dangers. Pulling herself together and setting her jaw, Sakura removed her favourite kunai from its green sheath and grimly started retracing the breadcrumbs. The small devices glowed mutely in response to her chakra, reliably leading her back. She should have stuck one on Sasuke too, she thought wryly, slowing in her approach toward a blind corner…

as Sasuke burst round and bolted toward her. He bridged the gap between them in four strides and with one hand forcefully pushed her into the nearest alcove, crowding himself in, and forced them both down on their knees. His hand remained on her collarbone, confirming her compliance. Sasuke could feel her raw gaze burning into him but then turn to see where he was looking. The first flits of paper squares came into sight.

Sakura watched the tide of paper swirl and eddy past them; the white squares keeping to the main hallway going about their business. Roving clouds of paper patrolling the hallways? Sai's jutsus would've been helpful right about now. Sakura frowned at the déjà vu of the thought, remembering how on their way to the Rain Village, Hinata had shared some intel about how Shino had battled an Akatsuki with a paper-based jutsu . . . "Konan?" Sakura inquired, seeking confirmation.

Sasuke scowled and nodded. Madara must have known that Konan was patrolling. What a convenient way to get rid of inconvenient Akatsuki members – have them fight each other off. Hn. But it confirmed that there was something of worth to be had from this building; and something significant if Konan's attention was at least split between this and Pein's battle.

He sighed and let his hand drop from her collar. In his distraction Sasuke neglected to pull his hand away and it grazed Sakura's breasts. Her small, sharp intake of breath at his touch made him freeze; his full focus was on her now. The sharp edge of lust shifted the air between them. Sakura's breathing became shallow as she took the offending hand and replaced it on her breasts. Sasuke stared at her for a moment; her eyes confirmed her intention, daring him to go further. He held her gaze as he caressed them, gently at first; as she arched her breast toward his touch, his other hand joined the first but now they groped. Her hands responded in kind, his open shirt convenient for her to explore the muscles of his chest and draw her fingers down the two…four…six abs and linger there, teasingly tracing a line juuust above his belt. Sasuke raised an eyebrow -- teasing are we? A swift slight of his hands and her shirt was open too, Sasuke resuming his groping position, now on the smooth black spandex. Sakura's lips quirked into a smile, impressed. Not to be outdone, she made as if to plunge her hands down his pants yet at the last minute twined her hands in his belt, pulling his body toward her. He was ready for it though and pinned her shoulders with his forearms against the alcove wall, kissing her passionately. He could feel Sakura's body melting into his, her hands clutching at his shirt. Sasuke's hands smoothed down her curves, pushing up her skirt before hoisting her onto his lap. The new position broke their kiss; Sakura giving him a sly, foxy look.

Paper suddenly stuck to her thigh. The hurricane was smarter than expected, extending exploratory paper tentacles in the alcove. Sasuke half-tossed, half-dumped Sakura on the ground behind him, burning everything to ashes in front of him.

He turned to her; other burning thoughts flashed in his mind to see Sakura sitting up on her elbows, fishnet and spandex, one of her legs still splayed across him and breathing heavily from surprise. Not now, he told himself with some effort. He instead offered her a hand to right herself. She did so and proceeded to gather items which had fallen out of her med-nin pouch.

Oh! The cold wrap with the eyes. In all the burning and havoc she had forgotten. She held it up to him to unwrap: "There was a medical storage room behind that locked door earlier…"

"What is it?" Sasuke asked; the question dying on his lips. "These are Itachi's eyes," Sasuke said quietly, touching the mangekyo sharingan jar gently.

"I thought so. I'm taking the rinnengan eyes back to Konoha for analysis, but the sharingans belong to you."

A shadow passed over Sasuke's face: "Sakura….I'm going blind"

The silence was heavy between them; neither sure how to follow up that thought. "I thought it wasn't so bad, but back there I saw a door ajar and I slipped in for a moment to investigate. I couldn't see the trip wire and it triggered the hurricane," Sasuke's voice grew bitter. "The crudest kind of trap; the kind they catch academy students with. Even if I don't use sharingan again..." He trailed off, frustrated at the impossibility; frustrated at the inevitability.

"..you'll go blind just as Itachi was going. But if I transplant his cornea onto yours, like a pair of glasses it'll correct your vision eternally." Sakura smiled as he took stock of her unexpected knowledge. "Are you really surprised? I've read every scrap I could find about sharingan." Sakura only blushed a little at admitting it. The countless bleary-eyed hours sneaking into the Hokage's office to read confidential reports on clan abilities by moonlight were precisely for moments like this; so she could do something worthwhile for one of her teammates. "What will you do?"

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter is based off of nami86's "Close Combat"**


	4. I can feel you, even so far away

Sasuke leant back against the wall, appraising her. Could Sakura really do it? He knew that Tsunade's abilities easily outstripped Kabuto's – he'd heard about how Orochimaru had sought her help to revive one of his older vessels – and if Sasuke himself had bested Orochimaru, then it stood to reason that Sakura must be at least Tsunade's level if not beyond. No, it wasn't that he questioned her technical skill. It was more that he had just never thought about how it would work – if Itachi had actually plucked his eyes out back then, what would he have done with them? Shove them haphazardly into his own skull? Hn! Not likely. Itachi may have been an unprecedented genius, but his skills hadn't tended in that direction. Perhaps Madara had a way….

Sasuke's hand was growing cold from condensation as the jar warmed, hastening the impending demise of the eyes within.

This might be his only chance. Lately he had been mulling over the legend of Zatoichi, the blind wanderer who had made his living by giving massages and by playing the flute and, when the occasion required it, by the sword. There were more than a few similarities between him and Zatoichi, right down to the inverse sword grip. Even though he had come to the conclusion that he had seen all the world had to offer and could continue his nindo without sight, with Sakura's offer hope flared up within him, unbidden. He wouldn't go blind after all! It would mean becoming temporarily blind now, in a precarious situation with difficult mission objectives and dangerous battle variables. Eh. He'd had worse odds. Sasuke proffered Itachi's eyes to her: "Let's do this."

A brief smile tugged at the side of her mouth. His trust, his acknowledging her skill, heartened her. "Right. We'll need some place relatively secure," Sakura gave him a wry grin, "I'd rather not have to point you in the direction of danger to 'flame on'".

"That room I went into – it should be clear now," Sasuke offered, only slightly chagrinned.

They walked in silence, softly chuffing through the ashes. The building's expanse of sequestered emptiness was eerie and it hampered discussion. The room indeed was vacant and inside, a strangely bare workbench caught Sakura's eye immediately. She touched Sasuke's arm lightly, motioning for him to sit on the end of the table. He did so, wolfishly grinning and 'demurely' awaiting her further instructions. Sakura raised an eyebrow, mockly shocked at his audacity. For lack of a witty rejoinder, Sakura rifled in her mednin pouch. "Here" -- she tossed a roll of bandages at him -- "You can change your arm wraps while I prep."

A quirked smile lingered on her lips as she turned her attention to the spreading out the contents of her portable surgical kit. Still had nothing to spare for a hair tie, but at least in the privacy of this room she could work with her outershirt off. Working under Tsunade had enhanced her taste for uncumbersome clothing which is why she wore the split med-nin skirt rather than a dress like in her genin days.

Selecting a miniature flashlight she stood close before him; their encounter in the alcove giving her the confidence to stand between his legs. Using the examination as a pretense, she slowly ran a finger down his jawline to his chin, and held it, meeting his enigmatic gaze. His eyes held a cool stillness that drew her. Yet before she could decipher anything, Sasuke looked away, seeming vaguely uncomfortable under such close scrutiny. Sakura's heart went out to him; despite what he might think, he did hold up under scrutiny and was more than worthy. She'd take time to convince him of that now, but the eyes were waiting. "Look up" Sakura finally instructed, shining the flashlight in his eyes. "Look left….look right…look down…"

And Sasuke did, straight down Sakura's low-cut top. Her breasts looked so soft, gently rising…his hands would help that out…

She deflected his hands away and apart, mounting the table to pin him on his back with the weight of her body. Licking at one of his barely-still-bleeding paper cuts distracted him, buying her time to draw a couple small kunai to bluntly peg him down spreadeagle. She had meant to catch both hands, but he was quick and had moved so one kunai pierced his wrist. Blood seeped, pooling.

Sasuke scowled. Damn her! What kind of 'help' was this?! Was this sabotage like Tsunade had been about to render on Orochimaru? He couldn't afford to move carelessly and lose use of his hands . . . So much for noticing the difference between seduction and peril.

Then she was cheek-to-cheek with him, purring in his ear: "That's hot; but you need this surgery more than you need my body at the moment." She took up the flashlight again, casually remaining spread over his body. "Sharingan for me." Sasuke did so, eyes flashing with the irritation of one who recognizes reason but still chafes under it. "You'll fix the summoning seal on my wrist," Sasuke stated darkly, glaring at her as he dismissed worst-case scenarios from his mind. Sakura, finished her diagnosis, eased off of Sasuke's body, her fingers trailing his blood down his chest. "Yes. I'll heal all of you after…"

The surgery went smoothly, Sakura's skill more than up to the task. In short time she was issuing post-op directions: "It won't be long until you can see again; maybe five or ten minutes until you can have your basic sight back. I'd recommend waiting to use your sharingan for about half an hour though." To Sasuke's relief, Sakura finally removed the kunai pegging him in place. His hand was healed in a moment, as was the wrist, but reaffixing the seal was proving problematic. Somehow it wouldn't produce shuriken like the other wrist seal.

Sakura contemplated the seal; turning his wrists this way and that to catch the muted black sparkle in the pattern. "It doesn't seem to have a normal metal-based composition…Sasuke, that day in Orochimaru's lair when we saw you for the first time in years, we thought you might have done stimulants or some other drug; you were leagues ahead of us in skill, you were so fast…I consulted this book, _The Effects of Medical Drugs_, and--"

"No. If I didn't keep myself clean, then I risked losing my body to Orochimaru and my ambition for avenging. During those years I refused to allow Kabuto to even heal me; Karin did the seals for me."

Sakura frowned. If drugs hadn't altered the constituting composition of the seal, something Karin did must have. "These kinds of seal-tattoos that activate through the user's touch and chakra are rare . . ." Sakura fell silent, using Sasuke's hand to activate the undamaged wrist seal. A small pile of shuriken grew beside them on the table. Come to think of it, Karin's fortes seemed to have lain in those very areas of touch and chakra. Seeing Karin vehemently bite her own arm during battle had been unsettling – the strange apparent self-mutiliation turning into a refreshed opponent; the bite blood coagulating into another darkly permanent bite mark for the collection on her arm. Oh, that's it! Unlike healing chakra that goes _through_ a ninja, hers must linger at the point of transfer, festering. So trying to repair the seal wasn't working because a pure seal can't be grafted onto one that had mutated; the solution would be to remove the remaining part of the seal and redo it entirely.

Sakura didn't set to work immediately, however. Another implication reared its ugly head – as long as the seals remained, Karin's festering chakra would as well. And if Karin's chakra was present – yes, Sakura could sense the whiff of it now that she was looking for it – then Karin could potentially track Sasuke. Perhaps that had something to do with Zetsu appearing unexpectedly as he did… "Sasuke, did Karin ever meet--" Sakura paused. Her eyes flicked to one side, almost her blind spot, toward the back door.

She whispered urgently: "Concentrate chakra in your feet and hands – I'm going to stick you on the ceiling while I deal with this." Sasuke, now also sensing the new ninja's approach, grabbed her arm: "I can fight -- I've trained blindfolded."

"So have I!" The words came out more vehemently than she expected. She hesitated; biting her lip. She wasn't like Naruto who could effortlessly convince people to stand down while he alone took care of the problem. He wasn't like Naruto who she could just run roughshod over. A repetitive muffled thudding arose at the door. Her whisper appeared in his ear: "Trust me." She cut off his retort by casting him upward.

The door creaked open and a key-shaped paper flier poked its head into the room. That was the confirmation Sakura needed before casting a pair of blossom bombs into the hall. Satisfaction at the smell of burning paper turned into consternation as the seconds ticked by but no counterattack followed. Did she dare leave the room? Konan could have set up a trap between the time Sakura sensed chakra and the barrage of paper darts blindly thudding at the door. Rushing headlong into battle was Naruto's favourite tactic, not hers. If she could pull Konan in the room, she'd have the advantage – Konan would face an unknown enemy in an enclosed space.

Sakura spun a rope of chakra threads and sent it snaking, connecting through the ashes of the chakra-sensitive paper, toward it's master's ankles. Sudden tension in the rope bespoke of success. Looks like Ino's trick from the Chuunin exams was coming in handy. Sakura used the door as a lever and shield as she pulled her quarry in. As expected, Konan braced herself against the doorframe. "Let go of me!" yelled Konan. Ha! Sakura thought – now that her hands are occupied, she won't be throwing jutsu in my face. One last hefty pull on the rope tore Konan from the door frame and into Sakura's waiting fist…to have Konan flutter apart at the last second – a paper substitution. Damn!

Konan appeared in the room behind her; Konan's paper darts whizzed, Sakura avoided them at first, but the flurry grew to a torrent, sliver-slicing while seeking to wallpaper her to the wall, a preface to a defeat. Her normal evasion speed wasn't cutting it. Sakura yanked open the buckles on her 'boots' and ripped off the tops, hucking them at Konan who dodged the clumsy attack with distain but was startled to hear them dash holes through the metal floor.

Sakura seized the advantage. Relieved of the weight, her speed matched her agility. Sakura lunged up at Konan; a direct up-close-and-personal attack against the long-range kuniochi.

Konan's defensive posture wasn't sufficient. Sakura crashed upon her; a body check that demolished Konan's block, twisting her, exposing her back. Sakura smirked. Too easy. Sakura's chakra-charged arms wove into a joint lock, secured at the base of each paper wing.

"Where's Pein fighting?" The question was a statement; as firmly spoken as Konan's wings were held.

"You're wasting your breath!"

Sakura knew as much. Even so, it was worth a quick try. Sakura's long-delayed mission meant that they didn't have time for an interrogation nor the resources to force Konan along as a hostage. Letting go of a wing gave Sakura a hand to reach in the mednin pouch and gave Konan an unfettered wing to swing backwards in efforts to bat Sakura off. But Sakura ducked, taking advantage of the exposed side to stab a vial of liquified atropa belladonna between two ribs. Konan's panicked thrashing by wing and arm worked the poison through faster. Sakura bobbed and weaved until the wings began to falter; the incapacitation was taking hold. Sakura jumped clear.

Sasuke had recovered his sight enough during the battle that he slipped down from the ceiling and stood away from the action until now, as he caught Konan before she hit the floor. Square paper feathers fluttered down around the pair.

Sakura looked Sasuke, confused and wary. If she hadn't cared if an opponent fell, why should he? Unless it was some sort of remnant of prior loyalties. . . Who's side _are_ you on, Sasuke?

Sasuke let the moment draw out. Long enough to get his point across; not so long as to spur Sakura to action. That was sufficient. "Where would you like her?"

Sakura directed him to the vacant workbench and met his eyes as he placed Konan down; she got his point and it was fair – they didn't have to work as lone wolves anymore; they were on the same side: "Alright, no more stabbing you."

Sasuke was grateful that he didn't have to arduously explain himself. He reached across the table for Sakura's hand which paper darts had sliced a bit. He licked the exposed line of blood off her, keeping his mouth close to her skin as he flicked his eyes up at her: "Unless I ask you to". He smirked.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter was inspired by another of Nami86's brilliant drawings, "Her Revenge".**


	5. Pain takes my heart's place

"It's primarily an overdose of hallucinogens," Sakura commented as she concerned herself with assuring that Konan would stay stabilized and subdued until she could be taken back to Konoha for questioning. "In about half an hour, she'll surface from catatonic into. . .unsavoury. . visions". Sakura secured Konan to the table, thought for a moment, then added a gag. Now and then, hyper-anxiety fuelled by the visions would led to shouting or wailing. It was rare, but best not to draw attention. Sakura carefully avoided catching Konan's hair in the gag's knot. Her hair was periwinkle rather than the dark plum of Hinata's yet it was similar enough to tug at her conscience.

Sakura sure as hell wasn't going to let her friends down. Snatching a few stray things and tossing on his Akatsuki cloak as a precaution, Sakura made for the door; a glance at Sasuke told him to follow. Freed from her leg weights, Sakura dashed along the hallway with the suppleness of purposeful movement, following her breadcrumb line of petals back toward where they started.

"You've been training with Lee", Sasuke remarked.

Sakura's mouth quirked a little. "I take good ideas when I see them. Like somebody else I know." She cast him a sly glance. "After we got back from seeing you that first time, Kakashi said that we'd have to get stronger at a faster rate than you if we wanted to catch up. Kakashi was working with Naruto full-time and Tsunade couldn't spare more time away from her Hokage duties. It got me thinking about who else's brain I could pick."

As if to prove her point, Sakura pulled up at the first new fork in the labyrinthine hallway and populated it with kage bushin. One hundred of them. Naruto might be a loose cannon sometimes, overwhelming his opponents with disproportionate force and alarming chakra levels but you couldn't argue with results. The guy got things done.

While she admired her handiwork for a moment, grateful her precise chakra control allowed her to create as many as she did without taxing her chakra reserves, Sasuke made a pair out of each without comment. The pairs were quick about their work picking out the right way from the network of hallways. Dismissing the lot, Sasuke and Sakura followed the trail, soon finding themselves facing a wall.

Pulling Sasuke away a safe distance, Sakura dangled a spare blizzard blossom bomb in her hand: "I could use one of your fireballs," she said gently smiling, wondering if he also recalled her recurrent request on missions. She didn't wait for his reaction, pitching the bomb at the metal wall. Sasuke's impeccable timing made the most out of the explosive and blew a sizable puncture.

Sasuke shielded her body with his. He lingered before her for that moment when their proximity invited touch. Sakura looked up at him, silently. The blast faded from their ears and the sounds of clashing metal drew Sakura's eyes away from him. She stepped around him and he watched her move to the opening. Hn. Her focus reminded him of his nindo. Of things he too had left to do. He joined her in surveying the scene.

Despite the ruckus of the explosion, because nothing had emerged from the new hole to trouble the room's occupants below, the metallic clashing hadn't ceased. Pein hovered ominously over the centre of a battlefield in progress, evading TenTen's valiant attempts to tow him to the ground. Hinata knelt beside Naruto, brought to his knees with the pain of repressing Kyuubization. Neji, byugaganed, stared at them from the corner of his eye, frowning slightly as a flicker of recognition passed over his face. Excessiveness was so Team 7.

Skidding down into the room with charged chakra hands dragging against the wall to ease the long way down brought them alongside the Konoha ninjas.

Neji's eyes hardened at Sakura's Akatsuki cloak. "Nice of you to show up, Sakura. Be you friend or foe?"

Sakura's brow twitched a bit, irritation edging out her embarrassment. "Friend. And so is Sasuke."

Naruto's groan as Hinata worked the Kyuubi cloak back curtailed that line of inquiry. Hinata's face was flush from effort and her eyes shone a bit too brightly than they might have if she were composed.

"You okay?" Sakura inquired kindly. "You need any help with him?"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm fine but Naruto can't keep releasing and repressing the Kyuubi." She lowered her voice: "We need to control Pein long enough to remove the black piercings".

Naruto focused his eyes on the speaker, laying a hand on Hinata's knee to let her know that he had recovered enough before sensing they had an audience. He smiled reassuringly at Sakura, which turned into a dropped jaw to see Sasuke standing behind her. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk back at Naruto's warm grin as Naruto scrambled to his feet to clasp Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke took the proffered hand and offered something else: "I can control the Kyuubi." He faced Naruto, ignoring Neji's skeptical expression. "But I'll be focussed on Naruto, I can't guarantee that I can use sharingan to also read Pein's movements".

Sakura interjected eagerly: "I can if you buy me some time".

Naruto looked at his team mates. With a "Yosh!" Naruto clapped his hands together and stabbed his finger toward Pein to put him on notice.

A number of things happened at once.

Pein, registering for the first time the rogue Akatsuki cloak amidst his enemies, let loose a shinra tensei. TenTen's flying claw flung back toward her, skimming Neji's hair as he reached back for it too late. TenTen didn't flinch. Her practised hand redirected it safely behind her.

"Pay attention, people!" Neji chastised. That TenTen was bright enough to only use one weapon, having figured out to some extent how Pein's gravity jutsu worked, and to have occupied Pein's attention during the new arrivals' showy entrance, saved all of their asses just now. He would have them know it.

Hinata knew what she could do. Stepping beside Neji shoulder-to-shoulder, she took up an eight trigrams form. Neji mirrored her silently. Performing this jutsu with half the circle doubled their power and overlapping the halves quadrupled it. They faced down Pein.

Sakura wasn't watching. She cracked open her portable microscope, ruthlessly breaking off the scope and tossing the rest aside. Spinning the top off the scope, she left it in two pieces on the ground while she gingerly extracted one of the spare bottles of sharingan eyes and a tube of lightning bug reduction paste used to make items glow translucently. Spreading it sparingly on the back of one eye, Sakura secured the eye within the scope, closing it up for a test view. She could see through it! _Mirror_-wheel indeed. She focussed the scope on Pein. She saw with absurd clarity minute physical signals; like seeing movement tracers from the future. Is this what Sasuke sees all the time? Naruto sat on his haunches beside Sakura, chomping at the bit to see if Sakura's plan worked.

The Hyuugas shouted in unison: "Buddha's Dragon Palm Wave!" Four chakra dragons whipped along the floor, snapping upward. Pein's gravity wave held the dragons at bay as they thrust their muzzles against the invisible barrier. To everyone's surprise it collapsed back suddenly, the dragons dealing a glancing blow against Pein, staggering his composure.

Sakura saw the opportunity: "Ok, go!" Naruto's frothing fox cloak burst another couple tails and in three bounds he ricocheted off the roof, dropping on Pein like a ceiling collapsing.

Pein was hammered downward with the blow yet managed to scamper clumsily across thick chakra fur to use Naruto's back as a springboard back into the air. Naruto landed hard, Kyuubi chakra buckling the floor. Pissed at the evasion, the fox cloak fell in shreds as five-tail newly emerged, gnashed its teeth in frustration.

"Tch," muttered Sasuke. He didn't need to rein in the Kyuubi. Yet. The genjutsu puppetry leashes remained at his hand.

A string of ninjitsu hand signs evoked unease in the Konoha team as Pein just kept adding signs; invoking earth then metal then lighting -- A growth cycle of elements! Pein's next jutsu would decide the battle.

Sakura's scope solved the Gordian knot of Pein's chakra. "The post at the back of his neck! Get it out"

Sasuke: "TenTen!" She didn't respond; letting her actions speak for her. She would be better than she was the day before; better than even minutes before. Summoning another flying claw rope dart, TenTen pressed the soft end into Sakura's hand: "Hold this." Sakura complied, her vigilant eye remaining on Pein, wrapping the rope round the back of her hand as reinforced security in her iron grip. TenTen dashed into a wall run until the rope between her and Sakura could spread no more.

"Pull!"

Sakura hauled the rope in; hurtling TenTen toward Pein. TenTen purposefully knocked against his shoulder so the back of his neck was exposed for the flying claw to grip and rip out the black rod.

Sakura caught TenTen and they watched on tenterhooks for the result of the critical piercing extracted. System disruption achieved! Yet Pein was continuing the sequence of hand signs: Dog. Snake. Tiger. Pause. Neji seized the moment, hijacking one of TenTen's shuriken, flinging it to fill the space between Pein's hands before they would close the final hand sign of Dragon. Pein defiantly persisted in pushing his hands together in spite of the metal star between them. "Your paltry efforts fail because none of you know the true pain of sacrifice."

Sasuke turned the Kyuubi off leash, focussing the full force of his mangekyo sharingan on Pein while his chidori-infused katana cut the offending hands off just in time for the Kyuubi to crush the body. The two parts of Pein tumbled to the ground. The hands had been less than a quarter-inch apart.

Slugs motored their way around, replenishing each of ninjas' chakra reserves. Sakura had worked with furious swiftness on the group's wounds, her unspoken self-imposed reparations for lateness.

"There's still Konan," Sasuke reminded Sakura as she folded the Akatsuki cloak she had been wearing. The pair retraced their steps in silence. Sakura's mind wandered. There was a lot of work to do. Rinnengan eyes to analyze; Pein bodies to dissect under autopsy; Tsunade would likely even give her auxiliary duties assisting Ino with Konan's interrogation because it might help with the Pein research.

Passing through the main fork in the hallway path, Sasuke hesitated. Not in the manner of someone unsure which direction they had come. The gravity of his pause turned her around to face him; her voice was perilously even: "You're not staying, are you?" It wasn't really a question. So he didn't respond.

Sakura's heart sighed. She laid her hands against his shoulders as if to change his mind by touch. The sigh grew to an ache when his body wasn't responsive. She bowed her head, touching her forehead on his chest, taking such liberties with him that still remained.

She had expected this. How her hands remained desolately gripping his shirt betrayed competing feelings which she had long ago forced to succumb to practicality. Too much had happened in too short a time; Sasuke hadn't had a chance to reconcile his ronin ways with re-engaging Konoha. His voice, the way he kissed her, his very presence had distorted reality and had ill-founded hope. Irony stained her thoughts: Despite her training, despite his desire for her, the last card in her hand left her bargaining. Again. "I'll come to you," Sakura said with restrained conviction.

Sasuke hesitated. Her boldness corroded his defences. He tentatively lowered his chin on her hair, non-committally; his hands on her hips a natural next step for how close they stood. A transient mood permeated the embrace. It was more difficult for him this time.

"Listen. Four people were responsible for the Uchiha massacre. Danzo was one. Two others still live. I'm not satisfied until they're dead."

"That's not an answer."

"You wouldn't like what I have to do."

Frustration welled up in Sakura. If he could be tenacious about what he wants, so could she. Every heartbeat of hers pointed in his direction. Even if he should go alone now, she would find her way to him.

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**A/N: This chapter was based on Nami86's drawing "my north south east and west". **

**As always, I thank you for reading. If you'd like to drop me a note or a comment about the story, I encourage you to! =D**


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